Favourites
by madelinesticks
Summary: Steam Powered Giraffe fic. The Spine always knew they had favourites. And that was okay.


The Spine let his shutters close, settling back in the chair. The wind was loud and whistling outside, and he could hear each heavy droplet of rain patter onto the roof above.

It was getting cold outside, now. Michael Reed, now aged six, was in the Manor with his parents these days. The robots required more help, so the Reeds stayed on hand. He and Peter Junior were difficult to control.

At six and seven respectively, they wanted to play outside and run and wrestle. Peter's favourite automaton was Rabbit, but the eldest 'bot wasn't exactly up to such activities most days.

He could play the imaginative games, sit cross-legged on the floor and play with the dinosaurs and superheroes, but aimless frolicking tended to end in damaging a joint.

Michael's favourite, The Jon, could do all of these things, of course. He was always happy to play whatever the boys liked, whether it was imagining with Rabbit, drawing pictures, or wrestling in the mud.

While he was not the favourite of either Peter or Michael, both conceded that The Spine was best at "Mommy" things. The Spine felt this terminology odd, but he accepted it all the same.

The boys called him when they'd grazed a knee or cut their hand or hit their head. The Spine would gently apply antiseptic and a plaster. If either were having nightmares and their parents weren't present - both of the Reeds tended to work late into the night, and occasionally Annie and Peter Senior would go out to a party or some such - they'd go to The Spine and crawl into his lap.

The Spine was the best at comforting and fixing up, to the boys, anyway. Even if he wasn't a favourite.

There was a tentative knock at the door, and The Spine's shutters came open. "Come in." He called.

Peter Walter VI pushed the door open, Michael coming in close behind the taller boy. "M-Mister Spine, Rabbit's having nightmares. Y'need to go snuggle him."

The Spine tilted his head. "You know, I think Rabbit's okay on his ow-"

"Now!" Michael broke in plaintively, looking distressed. The Spine nodded, standing and letting the boys lead him to Rabbit.

"Jon powered down for the night?" The Spine asked.

"Uh-huh." Peter and Michael nodded as one.

Rabbit was quivering on the bed - they'd started powering down on beds a while back, knowing it helped humans accept them more when they saw similarities. He shuddered and gave small noises. The Spine moved forward to pull Rabbit half into his lap, laying the older automaton's head against his chest so that he could hear the workings of his boiler.

After a minute, Rabbit relaxed. His shutters fluttered open to let photoreceptors look up at The Spine.

"The boys came and got me when they saw you were having a nightmare." The Spine murmured. They dreamed almost as humans did, sometimes, but mostly their sleep contained replayed memories at random. "War?"

Rabbit nodded shakily. "Tha-tha-tha-thanks, boys." He sat up and looked to them.

"You can go back to bed now." The Spine said quietly.

"No, the wind's too loud. S'scary." Michael said. Peter reddened, but then nodded in agreement.

"Well, come on." Rabbit said lightly. "We'll stay here. Ain't no wind gonna dare hurt ya when ya got The Spine next t'ya." Rabbit assured the boys. Michael and Peter came up, Peter crawling into Rabbit's lap and Michael into The Spine's.

The Spine pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Michael's head and rocked him slowly, gently rubbing his back. "Mister Spine!" Michael protested, but it was half-hearted and drowsy. "'M not a baby!"

"Y'are compared to me and Rabbit." The Spine maintained. Michael didn't respond, laying his head against the robot's chest and drifting off.

Rabbit held Peter close, mechanical thumb stroking the boy's shoulder where he held him close.

"Five never did this. Six does it a lot." Rabbit murmured as Peter Junior fell asleep, thumb firmly in his mouth.

"He did." The Spine returned. "He always came to me first, and I was always awake. Peter goes to you first and Michael goes to Jon first. If you and Jon aren't up they come to me next."

"It's all about favourites." Rabbit nodded, smiling a little.

"I've never been anyone's favourite before." He said, sounding a little awed, even as Peter gave a snuffling snore against his chest. The Spine smiled and lay back on Rabbit's bed, letting his shutters close again.

Rabbit did the same. They powered down holding the boys close, and none of them had another nightmare that night.


End file.
